The Unexpected Pleasure Of Xanadu
June 29, 2007
I saw the biggest new hit to land Off-Broadway in years. Unfortunately for the show, it’s opening on Broadway next Tuesday.
Xanadu, which I bought tickets for after a half-price opportunity showed up in the e-mail and have been apologizing for since whenever answering “what are you seeing in New York?,” turns out to be (nearly) the best of all possible answers to the question, “Why the hell would anyone make a Broadway show out of one of the crappiest movies ever?”
Xanadu deserves to be on the list of Broadway adaptations of other media that actually did the job of creating something more than a pale reproduction, along with The Lion King, Wicked (which does a better job of reflecting on The Wizard of Oz than of the novel that is so much smarter than the show) and Avenue Q (which spins Sesame Street). Xanadu takes the insane camp of the film and reflects on not only the film itself but the absurdities of all kinds of cultural ideas, especially on Broadway, and offers no fewer than three show-stealing performances, which is all you can expect from any show.